THE global economy is heading for a recession late this year or next, a Nobel Prize-winning economist has warned.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has said the world is heading for a recession this year (Image: GETTY)

Professor Paul Krugman has warned a series of isolated downward economic trends around the world will spiral into an unavoidable global recession towards the end of 2019 or the beginning of next year. Mr Krugman said there is not “one big thing” prompting the stark forecast but instead blamed a number of incidents happening at the same time. He said a slump in the eurozone combined with the long-running US-China trade war, President Trump’s tax policy and world leaders’ lack of preparedness are increasing the risks of a worldwide economic slowdown.

Brussels said it expects to see a slow to 1.3 percent, down from 1.9 percent last year.

Mr Krugman also blamed world leaders for not making enough preparations for a snap economic downtown.

He said: "The main concern has always been that we don't have an effective response if stuff slows down.”

The news came as UK growth was revealed to have limped along at just 0.2 percent in the last quarter of 2018.

The world renowned economist also said the Eurozone slump is contributing to recession fears (Image: GETTY)

Figures for October to December last year, released today, showed the British economy has stalled from 0.6 percent growth in the summer.

Annual GDP was just 1.4 percent, its weakest since beginning to recover from the 2008 global financial crash.

The Chancellor has blamed the uncertainty surrounding whether Britain will secure a deal with the European Union before March 29.

With just 46 days to go until Brexit Day, an optimistic Philip Hammond told the Evening Standard: “I’m very confident that over the next few week we will be in a position to move forward, to remove this uncertainty and allow everybody to get on with their lives.”